Age of Aquarius

I am currently at the top floor of the AAA library, I haven't been in here since I was a freshman thinking about becoming an architect, but I thought I would get a different perspective. So anyway I am eavesdropping on a class happening below me on the second floor. This is so relevant to what Deb talks about it is scary. I love eavesdropping in on other classes. The teacher is talking about different books, the content and production of different artists and their ideas. So cool, oh the class just ended, I'm going down there...

So I went down and met Kara, a librarian/ design class teacher, and got a little one on one session viewing some of the different books. They are all so gorgeous and really took my breath away, but here are a couple of my favorites...

Laurie Simmons: Water Ballet - A book of photography about nude swimming. She used a silky and shimmery cover page to replicate the feel of water what an interesting topic as well. No words, just images.

Adrian Piper: A Retrospective, 1965-2000 - Piper juxtaposes current images from the popular media with images of cultural significance from the past. One of my favorites was seeing an all American advertisement of a woman selling a beauty product layered over a photograph of a race riot from the 60's. very powerful. Might be a cool photography project to keep in mind.

Susan E. King: Treading the Maze - A book about the authors struggle with breast cancer. King embarks on two voyages, braving the uncharted territory of cancer after setting off to explore the medieval Europe she had always dreamed of visiting. Transformed by her journey and the inspiration she found there, she has created a new path, a rich odyssey of words and images. It is spiral bound on both sides and opens like a triptych, with a transparent sheet in the middle that can be flipped, and is relevant to both the middle and left hand side.

Laura Russell: Urban Decay - This book of photography is hand bound with a piece of plywood for the cover. Subject matter includes vintage neon signs, graffiti and the urban landscape of Russell’s hometown of Saginaw, Michigan. The decades of decay and poverty are sad to see, but they are photographed in such a beautiful way.

Diane Jacobs: Alphabet Tricks - A small book that is the size of my palm, double sided, and stitched together like an accordion. Topics of the alphabet address words that are usually demeaning to women, but Jacobs turns the words around to have a less vulgar and more substantial meaning in a creatively poetic and witty way. Jacobs also put a piece of shiny plastic on the front cover, and I am thinking for a book of mine maybe that would be a nice place for some fused glass. I think this book was my favorite by far. Jacobs also has an amazing website where she talks about her art projects she constructs using human hair. Really interesting.


Another book had a kit included to with pockets and hand crochet diseases to contemplate their beauty. It commented on how diseases can be beautiful, and how the job of a nurse can be interpreted in a different way then the one we usually associate with that kind of job. It adds a whole new dim mention to the medical field. The paper is thin and transparent, like a skin.


A very small and delicate book featured stamp sized pieces of paper with secrets written on them that were hidden in the skirt of a hand made doll dress.

Julie Chen and Barbara Tetenbaum: Ode to a Grand Staircase - This book was so beautiful. The content is a poem based on a piano symphony. It is divided into two halves with each side unfolding out to an elaborate panorama, can be read by turning the pages of each half. It is an elaborate interplay of text, images and structure. Amazing concept.

Then finally I found this little manual called The Book as Art: Artists' Books from the National Museum of Women in the Arts when I was looking at some of these others on Amazon.